Cavite Governor Juanito Victor Remulla (on stage) led the pledge of commitment of the representatives of the first higher education institutions to participate in Cavite’s water research consortium, Nov. 19, 2020, Salrial Hall, De La Salle University- Dasmariñas.
With its commitment to help the province in facing an impending crisis, De La Salle University- Dasmariñas (DLSU-D) hosted the first Joint Cavite Water and Solid Waste Summit, Nov. 19-20, 2019.
The two-day summit, which was organized by DLSU-D, Provincial Government – Environment and Natural Resources Office (PGENRO), and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), featured plenary sessions, paper presentations and the formation of a consortium dedicated to solve the water problems of the province on the first day and another plenary session and a workshop on the second day.
“We are here for the future.”
Gov. Juanito Victor Remulla, in his message, left a reminder to the attendees of the Summit’s first day that the people of Cavite must live in a way that will secure the lives of future generations. Gov. Remulla said “We are not here for the present. We are here for the future.”
The reminder, which is perceived more as a challenge, was anchored on the forecasted dire situation that Cavite will face starting 2020. According to Gov. Remulla, it is expected that Cavite’s population will grow to an estimate of 4.5 million residents who will share resources in a province that is getting warmer. As an initial action, the provincial government has declared some towns “no development zones’ until a comprehensive measure for water resource is formulated.
As for structural solutions, former Prime Minister Cesar E.A. Virata reiterated that the maintenance of water infrastructure projects must be done. “After build, build, build” must be “maintain, maintain, maintain,” he emphasized.
Moreover, Arturo Fadriquela, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services, discussed the agency’s efforts in cleaning water ways and rivers, in rehabilitating Manila Bay, and in managing solid wastes particularly composting at both household and local levels.
Collective effort
To help the provincial government in addressing the worsening water resource concerns of Cavite, the academic sector, headed by DLSU-D, formed a consortium of higher education institutions (HEI) that will share resources and expertise in finding solutions through research. Gov. Remullla led the pledge of commitment among the HEIs that first responded to the call for the consortium. The institutions who participated in the pledge of commitment were DLSU-D, Cavite State University-Main Campus in Indang, Far Eastern University-Silang, Lyceum of the Philippines-Cavite, Olivarez College Tagaytay, Rogationist College, and Technological University of the Philippines.
Current studies from DLSU-D
Also highlighted on the first day is the presentation of various research studies conducted in relation to water and solid waste management in Cavite. Among the presenters are researchers from DLSU-D.
Jocelyn Luyon, faculty member of the Environmental Resources and Management Center of DLSU-D, discussed the best practices of the university in terms of handling solid waste and treating waste water that made it one of the greenest universities in the country. Dr. Alice Valerio of the Allied Business Department presented another paper that she co-authored with Dr. Phillip Mallari of the Social Sciences Department; their study of the socio-economic and water resources status in upland Cavite found that people do not seem to feel the crisis yet, which could be dangerous. The last paper from DLSU-D was a water quality assessment of the river networks in the City of Dasmariñas by Gideon Legaspi of the Physical Sciences Department; he found that the quality of surface water around the city in terms of chemical contamination still needs to improve before it could be tapped as an alternative water resource.
Studies from other institutions were also presented in the forum. Engr. Jose Serafin Yu Tecson, president of Partnerships for Water Solutions, Inc. gave a picture of the state of sanitation in the country and the move to create a sanitation master plan. Then another research, one that was commissioned by the provincial government, was presented by Prof. Noel Sedigo of Cavite State University; his recommendation based on the study was that measures on bulk supply and allocation of water in the province must be left to the provincial government and not to private companies. The last presentation was about the implementation of river basin management approach study in the Philippines in which the Imus River is one of the study sites. It was presented by Nancy Bermas, chief technical adviser and project manager of PEMSEA.
LGU workshop
The second day featured another set of presentations and a workshop by municipalities. The presentations were about the compliance of local government units on the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program by Kristel Kate Francisco of the Department of Interior and Local Government- Cavite, solid waste management issues and challenges in the municipalities and barangays in Cavite by Ms. Corazon Gasapos, chief of the Solid Waste Management Section of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-EMB-4A, plastic pollutants in Manila Bay by Daniel John Espina Purganan of the University of the Philippines-Manila Science Institute, and ambient water quality of Imus-Ylang-Ylang Rio Grande Rivers and Cañas-Maalimango Rivers by Engr. Wifredo Billones, DENR-EMB-IVA.
After the presentation of studies, the workshop proceeded with the officials of barangays as main participants. The workshops main goal is for barangays to come up with a strategic action plan for solid waste management. The workshop ended with the presentation of the formulated action plans per district.